Semiconductor package manufacturing processes may involve bonding of circular support substrates to wafers. Patent Literature 1 proposes a support substrate made of sapphire, on which indication parts (notches) are formed for positioning. Practices of providing marking-off lines, depressions, projections, and other marks, besides notches, are known, where these marks are provided along the periphery of the support substrate and the wafer is attached in a manner not concealing the marks on the support substrate. The marks must be large enough to be detected in a reliable manner, and since the support substrate becomes larger than the wafer as a result, each process apparatus in the manufacturing process must be made larger.
Also, Patent Literature 2 proposes providing an optical detection film on the side of a support substrate opposite the side to be bonded with a processing substrate, where such film has markedly different optical characteristics, such as reflectance and optical transmission factor, than those of the support substrate, and detecting this optical detection film with an optical sensor to perform positioning. This support substrate can be sized roughly identical to the wafer; however, it requires an extra step to form the optical detection film, and it is also necessary to incorporate into the process apparatus an optical system capable of measuring the reflectance and the transmission factor.